Canada poised to pass draconian anti-terror legislation

Douglas Crawford

June 9, 2015

Bill C-51 (Anti-terrorism Act, 2015) is a sweeping piece of legislation that was pushed through in the wake a ‘lone wolf terrorist’ attack on the national war memorial and parliament building in October last year, and which left one soldier dead.

Proposed by the majority Conservative Party and supported by the Liberal Party (but opposed by the official opposition New Democratic Party and the Green Party), the legislation initially enjoyed overwhelming public support. However, in the face of outrage from not just civil liberties groups, but from many of Canada’s most respected academics and legal experts, this support has largely melted away.

The Bill has now passed its third reading in the House of Commons (183-96 in favor), but growing alarm at the scope of its provisions (the details of which have mainly not been made available to the public) is fuelling growing unrest throughout the country.

What is known is that Bill C-51 is designed to ‘reduce’ terrorism threats by giving government departments, the police, and CSIS (Canada’s version of the NSA) unprecedented powers to share information about individuals or groups between departments (and other Five Eyes spying partners). It lowers the threshold required for proof of arrest in suspected terror cases, allows ‘secret courts’ for terrorism cases, and gives Canadian spies the authority to ‘counter-message’ or ‘disrupt’ radical websites’ (even outside Canada).

It did not take long for four former Canadian prime ministers, five former Supreme Court justices, and several cabinet ministers to issue a dire warning about the implications of such legislation,

‘Protecting human rights and protecting public safety are complementary objectives, but experience has shown that serious human rights abuses can occur in the name of maintaining national security. Given the secrecy around national security activities, abuses can go undetected and without remedy. This results not only in devastating personal consequences for the individuals, but a profoundly negative impact on Canada’s reputation as a rights-respecting nation.’

Prime Minister Stephen Harper was initially scornful of such criticism, but this tactic of dismissively labeling those opposed to the bill as ‘ridiculous’ ‘extremists’ has been backfired somewhat in light of the respected and authoritative positions held by its critics. These argue that the Bill will be used to undemocratically suppress legitimate dissent, and criminalize the actions of indigenous rights campaigners, environmental protestors, and more. As Daniel Therrien, Privacy Commissioner of Canada, notes,

‘The scale of information sharing being proposed is unprecedented, the scope of the new powers conferred by the act is excessive, particularly as these powers affect ordinary Canadians, and the safeguards protecting against unreasonable loss of privacy are seriously deficient. All Canadians would be caught in this web.’

This is view echoed by more than 100 Canadian law professors, who describe Bill C-51 as a ‘dangerous piece of legislation,’

‘It is sadly ironic that democratic debate is being curtailed on a bill that vastly expands the scope of covert state activity when that activity will be subject to poor or even non-existent democratic oversight or review.’

Despite its initial popularity (70 percent approval ratings before the first reading), recent polls indicate that 52 per cent of those aware of the bill now disapprove (with 38 percent in favor). This grows to 75 percent among young Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 who are opposed to the Bill. As oppositionmounts, it now seems likely that Bill C-51 will become a major point of contention in the upcoming election in October.

‘[ISPs to] retain records that will allow the identity of the person to whom the electronic location belongs to be determined, and do so for six months […].” Failing to forward a notice may result in “[…] statutory damages in an amount that the court considers just, but not less than $5,000 and not more than $10,000”.’

Using VPN to evade government surveillance

VPN is a great tool for evading blanket government surveillance, but you should be aware of a couple of key points:

It will not help individuals who are of specific interest to the Canadian authorities

Thanks to Bill C-11 you should avoid Canada-based VPN providers (and servers). It is not clear whether VPN providers are subject to the legislation (and many still claim to offer a ‘no logs’ service), but given the ‘greyness’ of the situation, we would recommend avoiding.

Despite these caveats, we are expecting to see a surge in VPN use as ordinary Canadians move to protect their privacy. This would reflect the situation in Australia, where some VPN providers reported a 500 percent jump in VPN use following the introduction of new anti-terrorism legislation (and a copyright piracy crackdown).

After reading your comments on Bill C51 and the amendments being considered for Bill C11, and its implications on our freedom rights as an individual, leaves me a bit disturbed to say the least. I am an eighty-one year old Canadian, and a download junkie because I’m fed up with what’s being offered by our large cable companies. Reluctantly, I’m still a cable subscriber because I have grandchildren who would be entirely lost without a working router.
Your suggestive warning in avoiding vpn’s located in Canada and the US for that matter is a good one in light of our revamped security measures. I am seriously considering one the recommended sites you mention. However, my tech knowledge is somewhat limited. I basically sit behind a Dell Inspiron laptop, with Windows 8.1 (haven’t yet upgraded to Windows 10) utlilizing most the major torrent sites downloading TV and Movies which I watch on my Samsung tv via hdmi hookup.
The router is downstairs which was installed by my internet provider and that is about all I know except it works well and internet speed is good.
What I am asking if you or your cohorts know of any online sources I could go to that would provide me with a step by step set of instructions on how to hook up and install a vpn (most people say its simple) along with a series of questions I should know or have in order to intelligently deal with the prospective vpn company.
Thank you for your time.

Setting up a VPN on your PC is generally as easy as installing and running a provider’s software. Almost all providers include step-by-step setup instructions for their software on their websites. For a discussion of the sort of things you should consider when choosing a provider (if your main concern is privacy), check out our article on 5 Best Logless VPNs.